Too Little Too Late Hinata
by pokefreak59
Summary: Naruto goes off on a mission with his team mates while Hinata prepares to finally tell him her feelings....my summaries suck lol
1. Chapter 1

**I've written two Hinata fanfics and people seem to like them. This one is a little different from my other ones. Let's hope this one is liked too!**

**Takes place after time skip**

* * *

Sakura was in the park. She sat on the swing and was rocking back and forth. Hinata came up to her and sat on the swing beside her. They both stared at the setting sun and let out a loud sigh.

"The usual?" Sakura asked Hinata resting her head on her hands.

"Yes." Hinata eyes seemed empty. "You too?" She asked twisting the swing to face her.

"Yeah, no matter how many times I ask Sasuke out...the answer is always the same." Sakura let out another loud sigh as she too twisted her swing to face Hinata. "Hinata...I'm sure that Naruto will say yes. All you have to do is ask him out."

"I-I can't do that!" She yelped. "I'm sure that he has no interest in a girl like me..." She put herself down.

"Don't say that, all you need is a little confidence. If you want I can ask him out for you."

"N-No! Please don't do that."

"Hey Sakura!" Naruto came running up to them.

Hinata had recognized his voice and turned in the opposite direction so not to face him. _N-Naruto! Why is he here?_

"What is it Naruto?" Sakura asked getting up.

"Hi Hinata." He called her.

"H-H-Hello..." Was she could manage to say.

"What is it?" Sakura asked tapping her foot on the ground.

"Oh that's right. Um...granny Tsunade wants us to go on a mission. We need to report to her office now." He informed her.

"Well let's go!" Sakura told him and dashed off to Tsunade's office.

"Bye Hinata!"

"G-G-Good..." She stuttered.

"You weird Hinata. That's what I like about you." He ran after Sakura leaving a cloud of dust behind him.

_That's what he likes about me...? _She smiled and stayed on the swing until dark came.

* * *

Hinata sat cross legged on her bed. She had a picture of Naruto in front of her.She felt nervous just looking at a picture of him.

"N-Naruto...I like you..." Her cheeks were as red as possible. _I feel silly doing this...but Shino said that this would be a good way to practice talking to him. Again. _"Naruto I have to tell you something..." She stopped right there. "I'm such a loser! I can't even tell a picture how I feel about him!" She buried her head into her pillow. After a while she raised her head. _I can't give up! I WILL tell him how I feel when he comes back._ She picked up the picture and tried again.

"Naruto...Naruto! I really really like you!" She closed her eyes as she said that.

Her door opened and Her little sister Hanabi came in. Hinata quickly hid the picture under her pillow. "Hinata dad wanted to let you know that dinner is ready."

'Oh, Thanks Hanabi." She sweat dropped.

"What were you doing?" Hanabi asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." She jumped out her bed and pushed her sister out.

* * *

**4 days later**

Hinata was waiting by the village gates waiting for Naruto to return from his mission. She had practiced on how to ask him out. She had asked the picture of him out plenty of times. She had Kiba turn into a Naruto clone and had practiced asking him out. She truly felt she was ready.

She could see the distant figures of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Her heart began to race in her chest. _Calm down Hinata. This is what you've been practicing for the past 4 days._ As they got closer Hinata could see that Naruto had his arm around Sakura's shoulder. _Did she get hurt during the mission? _

As they got closer to the gates Hinata began to worry that she might run away and hide again.

When the three entered the village Sakura turned to Naruto and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Ok. I'm going to tell Tsunade that we completed the mission. You go an check in at the hospital.

"Will do!" Naruto laughed. He walked away from his friends and neared Hinata. "Hi Hinata!" He said as he walked passed her. _That's weird...she usually looks down and mutters something. Well whatever._

Sakura heard Naruto call Hinata name and looked at her. _Oh my god! I didn't see her there!_

Hinata looked at Sakura with disbelief. Her eyes were holding back tears.

"Hinata let me explain." She ran over to her.

Hinata wouldn't give her a chance as she turned around and ran as fast as her legs could carry her away from there. _Why? Why would she kiss him! _She leaped from rooftop to rooftop let the tears roll down her face.

* * *

**Review and tell me what ya think!**


	2. I'll go

Sakura stood outside Tsunade's office looking at the bright morning sky. _It's gonna be a great day._

"Good morning Sakura!" Said Naruto as he jumped from a roof and landed in front of her.

"Yahh!" She put her hand over her chest. "Don't do that! You'll give me a heart attack.."

"Haha! Sorry bout that." He grabbed her hand and walked into the building with her. "So what mission does granny Tsunade have for us?"

"I don't know yet. I heard that it would a little dangerous though." She sounded worried.

"Don't worry! Naruto Uzamaki the next Hokage will protect you with my strongest jutsu!" He laughed.

A smile appeared on Sakura, you could tell that she was feeling safer now. "Race you upstairs!" She ran ahead.

"Hey! No fair!" He chased her.

**Upstairs**

"I won!" Sakura danced in victory.

"I let you win." Naruto said lightly pushing her. "So grandma what's the mission?"

A vein appeared on Tsunade's forehead. _Every time we meet! _She cleared her throat. "Ahem...The mission came from Glory Village."

"So Glory Village?" Sakura asked leaning against Naruto, Naruto wrapped his arms around her waist. "Never heard of them before."

"Hey I heard of them." Naruto said "Shikamaru was talking about them the other day. They're supposed to be some secret village. He said that them and some other village are at each others throats, fighting constantly."

"That's pretty much all that's known about them. The village they are fighting is called Dusk Village." Tsunade said "The mission is to guard the village's prince during a ceremony. The village leaders fear that he might be targeted for assassination."

"What's the ceremony about?" Sakura asked.

"Well that part of the mission was left out. I assume that they will clarify it when you arrive." She crossed her arms.

"So you want the two of us to be this kid's bodyguard right?" Naruto asked.

"Would you rather I send you on a C rank mission instead?" She glared at Naruto, who shook his head. "I'll allow you to select one more shinobi to go and help you guys." She took out 4 pictures and handed them to Sakura. "Decide who to take and let them know."

"Your letting us choose?" Naruto looked over Sakura's shoulder. "Neji, Sasuke, Shino, and Hinata." He crossed his arms. "Well we can take Shino out of the picture. Me and him...don't exactly see eye to eye on things."

"Ok then.." Sakura placed Shino's picture on the desk "What about Sasuke?"

"Isn't he still hurt from training with Kakashi the other day?" Naruto asked.

"That's right I forgot." Sakura threw his picture on the desk.

"It's down to the Hyuuga's. I'm sure you can decide on the way to their house." Tsunade took back the pictures. "Now get going."

"Alright, don't get your panties in a bunch." Naruto went over to the window and leaped out. Sakura followed. "Hey Sakura speaking of Hyuuga's where's Hinata. I usually see her everywhere I go. But I haven't seen her since we came back from that mission 2 weeks ago. Is she sick or something?"

Sakura frowned._ She must be crying her eyes out right now. _"No I haven't...we can go check on her while we're visiting." _I'm sorry Hinata...How should I tell her?_

* * *

Hinata lay on her side on her bed in the dark room, staring at the wall, eyes red as can be. "I hate you Sakura..."She whispered. She thought back to two weeks ago and began bawling her eyes out. _You know that I'm in love with Naruto! Why did you go and become his girlfriend?! _She slammed her fist on her pillow and rolled over facing the opposite wall. She wiped away the tears and sat up.

She heard the door knock. _Probably just Hanabi...Can't she see I want to be left alone? _She ignored it and lied back down.

The door knocked again. "Go away..." She whispered.

"Hinata you there?" Naruto voice called from outside.

_N-N-Naruto?_ "Wait a minute!" She called. _Why is he here? _She turned the lights on and looked in the mirror. She hurried out of bed and quickly fixed her hair and wiped away the tears on her cheek. She opened the door "Hi Naruto!" She greeted him.

"Hi Hinata! Haven't seen you in a while. Where ya been?" He waved.

"I-I've been sick..." She lied.

"Oh! You feeling any better?" He asked "If your not, Sakura might be able to help. She's talking to Neji right now." He pointed down the hallway.

"Oh...she's here?" Her shy voice quickly changed to a depressed one.

"Is something wrong?"

Hinata covered up her depression with a smile. "No, nothing's wrong. So what brings you here?" She gave him a smile.

"Well we got a mission, and I could choose either you or Neji. Sakura decided to choose Neji, but I thought that you should come along instead."

"W-Well, what's the mission?" She asked.

"We got a message from Glory village. They want us to protect their prince during some kind of ceremony or another. Well interested in joining us?" He asked giving her a big goofy smile.

Hinata stared at the ground. _Should I? I have a chance of helping Naruto...but Sakura is going to be there too. _"Well...I..."

"Naruto! Neji isn't able to come." Sakura yelled from down the hallway. When she got closer she noticed Hinata leaning against the doorway looking down. _Hinata... _"Hey Hinata how are you?" She asked.

_You should know exactly how I feel! _She gave her a cold look but quickly changed it."Hi Sakura. I will go along. I think that going on a mission is going to help me feel better."

_She looks really mad...I'll tell during the mission_.

_Is something going on between these two? If there is I better stay out of it. _Naruto thought. "Well come on we have to pack our stuff. I'm going home and get my stuff ready. Meet you guys at the gates in 20 minutes." He kissed Sakura on the cheek and ran out the house.

Hinata looked at her, she was clearly furious . "Look Hinata I can explain." She started, but Hinata just slammed the door in her face. _I guess I deserved that..._

* * *

**Took a while to update it but finally finished it.  
**


	3. Explain

Naruto stood just outside the village waiting on Sakura and Hinata. He had already packed his bags days ago in case an important mission such as this ever came up. He brought quite a few shuriken and kunai. He also brought his frog shaped wallet in case they needed to buy anything on the way. He brought his tent, he had hoped Sakura would leave hers so they could snuggle in his for the night.

Hinata appeared first. She saw Naruto standing outside and noticed that he was deep in thought. _What is he thinking about? About the mission? Or about...her..? _Hinata felt tears building up but fought them back. She lowered her head and stared at the ground and slowly made her way to Naruto.

Naruto snapped out of his daydream when Hinata walked past him. "Hi Hinata ready to go?" He smiled at her. However she didn't respond. "Is something the matter? Do you not feel well?" He ran in front of her and felt her temprature. Hinata face turned red and then she jerked back."What's the matter? If you don't feel well I could get Shino to come with us instead."

"No! It's all right I feel great...I was just thinking about someone" Hinata already red face, just turned redder. "...I mean thing! Something!!

"Someone?" Naruto smiled walking circles around her. "You got a crush on somebody Hinata?"

"N-No! No I don't!" She waved her hands in front of her.

"Yes you do!" He teased her. "Who is it? I bet it's Kiba isn't it?" He poked her rib.

Hinata gulped "N-No it isn't him."

"I was sure it was him. Is it Shino? Shikamaru? Choji? Wait don't tell me it's Sasuke!" He groaned.

"It's not any of them!" She shouted.

_Well then who is it? Maybe he's not a ninja. Maybe he's just some regular guy_. Naruto stepped away from Hinata "Well you don't have to tell me. But maybe I can help you hook up with him if you want."

The tears Hinata had been fighting back were now rolling down her cheeks. "N-N-No! Y-You can't. He does-doesn't think of me anymore then a friend."

Naruto knew that he had touched a sensitive subject with her. "Don't cry Hinata. You don't now that." Hinata eyes kept dropping tears and Naruto had no idea how to comfort her, he had no experience in this kind of area. He stood still as Hinata just wept away. _Gahhh!! Idiot! You know Hinata's shy why did I do that! What should I do? _Naruto grabbed Hinata's arm and pulled her into him. He wrapped her arms around her tightly.

"N-Na..." Hinata had calmed down she closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry I made you cry. I didn't know that talking about that bothered you."

"I-It's fine. It's kind of embarrassing to have someone see me cry." They parted and Hinata wiped the tears from her eyes."Naruto? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure go ahead."

"Well, how did you and Sakura start going out?" She was staring at the ground.

"Well after that mission we had a few weeks ago we were coming back and we set up camp for the night."

"Sorry I'm late!" Sakura jumped in between them "Tsunade wanted to tell me a few extra things about the mission."

"Like what?" Naruto asked.

"She told me that if we should get to their village as soon as possible. Their village wants to have their ceremony as soon as possible so they are awaiting our arrival. And she also told me that Naruto will be the leader."

"Anything else?" Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"Well she said one other thing. She wanted us to be extra careful since no one really knows just how powerful the Dusk village really is, not even Glory Village knows their full potential."

"Well then let's get moving!" Naruto pointed to the north.

"Naruto...the village is that way.." Sakura pointed to the west.

"Uhhh...I knew that...I was just testing you." He faced where Sakura was pointing and walked ahead of the group.

Hinata and Sakura walked behind him. The tension between them was thick. _I'm going to have to wait for a good time to talk to her. _Sakura looked at Hinata and saw that she had been glaring at her the whole time. Sakura smiled weakly at her and waved. Hinata looked away in disgust and stared forward.

_I should be focusing on this mission instead of her but...I HATE HER!! _Hinata formed a fist in her left hand.

"So when do you think we'll get there?" Naruto asked breaking the silence.

"Well to reach the port it will take us about 10 hours. Then from the boat it will be a 2 hour ride. So we should be there before nightfall tomorrow." Sakura picked up her pace and was walking alongside Naruto and he wrapped his arm around her waist. _Uh Oh! This is gonna make Hinata feel terrible!_

"Well since boats don't run at night we'll set up camp when we're almost there. And walk the rest of the way in the morning." Naruto told his team.

Hinata felt her heart sink. She shook her head and tried to cheer up. _I can't be thinking like this or we'll surely fail the mission. Just try thinking about something else. _Hinata shut her eyes and began daydreaming. She thought about her and Naruto sitting peacefully under a tree on a summer evening watching the sunset. All her problems already appeared to be going away.

"Hey Hinata! Watch where your going." Naruto yelled as he tripped forward. Hinata had spaced out and walked into him.

"Oh! I'm sorry Naruto! I must have spaced out!" She stretched her arm out, but Sakura was already helping him up.

"It's no big deal. Just try not to space out so much during the mission Okay?" He smiled at her.

Hinata's cheeks turned a light pink and she nodded her head.

* * *

Later that night The three of them sat around a campfire. Obviously Sakura was sat next to Naruto who had his arms around her. Hinata sat across from them staring into the fire. She could not bare watching them cuddling. They had been talking about missions they had in the past.

Naruto got up, stretched and yawned. "I'm gonna crash now. See you guys in the morning." He gave Sakura a kiss on her cheek and waved to Hinata before going into his tent.

Sakura watched him enter his tent and then looked at Hinata. She had finally risen her head to look at her. "I know you're mad Hinata"

"Mad? Why would I be mad? You just took Naruto, the guy I've been in love with since back a the academy!" Hinata was red with anger.

"Listen Hinata"

"You didn't even like him! You've always been busy chasing Sasuke and never payed attention to him! You always rejected him whenever he did ask you out!"

"Hinata, please. Lower your voice." Sakura tried to hush her. She looked over her shoulder to see if Naruto had heard anything she said. Naruto had already fallen asleep and was snoring away.

Hinata got up from her stump and was getting ready to got to sleep.

"Wait! Let me explain what happened." Sakura grabbed her sleeve. Hinata looked down at her and sat back down. "Thank you. I never intended to go out with him...it just sorta happened."

* * *

"That mission was a joke!" Naruto cried out as Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi and himself walk down the road. "Granny Tsunade better give us a tougher mission next time. I mean gather goats, and sheep? What kind of a mission is that?"

"Naruto, shut up already!" Sasuke yelled. "You've been saying that since before we even left for the mission."

Sakura giggled "That's right Naruto. Just be quiet." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Always agreeing with me won't make me like you, you know that right?" Sasuke groaned.

Naruto snickered while Sakura slumped down.

"Okay guys, I think it's about time we set up camp for the night." Kakashi said as he dropped his bag on the floor. He took out a sleeping bag and unrolled it. "I'm snoozing off right now so don't make so much noise." He turned on his side and fell asleep.

"I'm going to take a walk around the area." Sasuke dropped his bag and headed off.

"I'll come with you!" Sakura did the same and walked alongside Sasuke.

_What does she see in him? We're about the same in strength, we both have a bad background...mine's worse though. I just don't get it. _He set up his tent and crawled in. He shut his eyes and tried to fall asleep. He spent the next 30 minutes or so trying to fall asleep but just couldn't. He walked out of his tent and and walked out to a small field behind the campsite. He lied back in the grass and stared up at the stars. He faintly heard the sound of someone weeping. He got up and walked around to see who it was. He saw Sakura sitting with her knees close to her chest crying. "Sakura what's wrong?" He hurried over to his friend.

Sakura rose her head and saw Naruto approaching her. She wiped away the tear from her cheeks. "N-Naruto what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep so I decided to come out here for a while. Then I heard you crying...what's the matter?" He sat down next to her.

"...It's nothing." She turned her face away from him.

"Come on Sakura, we're team mates! We're supposed to help each other out." He ran over to her other side and looked her in the eyes. But she just turned the other way again. "Fine, I'll just sit here till you feel like telling me." He lied down again.

_Knowing him...he'll just be here for a long time. Might as well just tell him. _"You win." Naruto sat up and listened closely. "I was following Sasuke...and you know how I get around him." Naruto nodded his head. "Well I guess I just made too mad. He said some things...that I'd rather not repeat." She frowned.

"That jerk Sasuke! Who does he think he is making a girl cry?" Naruto growled and punched his fist into his open hand. "I'll go get him and make him apologize to you right now."He got up and started marching off.

"No! That's alright Naruto." She grabbed his sleeve. "I finally got it through my head that Sasuke just doesn't like me. I'm just an annoying ugly girl."

"Don't say that Sakura!" Naruto knelt down in front of her. "Your not ugly. You're really cute. You know that." He brushed the hair from her face. "And you're really kind too...Most of the time."

Sakura smiled and giggled softly.

* * *

"After he said that we stayed up the rest of the night just talking. He really cheered me up and somehow we just decided to go out." Sakura wrapped up her story as she fed the fire more wood.

Hinata sat quietly. She had not spoken a single word since Sakura started her story.

"Listen...I know you're mad... but I got to tell you something that might cheer you up."

Hinata leaned closer.

"I just used Naruto as a rebound. But I decided to give him a few weeks to see if I could actually like him. It's been 3 weeks, and we really don't have much in common. He thinks things are working out but...I know that they are not. I decided that after this mission I'm going to break up with him."

"What?!"

"SHHHH!" Sakura hushed her. "After the mission I'm breaking up with him. If I do it now, he might be lose his focus and that might cause us to fail it." Sakura got up. "You'll have another chance to ask him out again." She walked to her tent and crawled in.

"I'm...I'm getting another chance to ask him out again!" Hinata was jumping for joy at that moment. "Wait..." She stopped "It's great that she's breaking up with him...I hope he doesn't feel to heart broken though."

* * *

**Writing up the chapters is taking me forever...well it's not a great chapter but I hope you enjoyed it.  
**


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